About company

Companies vs. Climate Change (CvCC) is a media and events company whose mission is to serve as a global forum for companies of all sizes to share best practices for solving climate change with wholly justifiable business value. CvCC strives to serve as a conduit that will bring companies together to create business driven solutions to the climate crisis.

As Chief Sustainability Officer, Elizabeth (Beth) Heider, FAIA, LEED Fellow, translates Skanska’s commitment to sustainability into action while serving on Skanska USA’s Management Team. She supports Skanska’s US business units: Building and Civil (construction), and Commercial and Infrastructure Development with combined annual revenues of approximately $7 Billion. Her career encompasses all phases of design and construction as architect, construction manager and sustainability leader. An intrepid researcher and tireless advocate, she emboldens the design, construction and business communities to create a more sustainable future. Known for her work making the business case for green and net zero energy buildings she has been invited to present at over 200 international conferences focusing on the nexus of design, sustainability and good business. Heider served for six years on USGBC’s national Board of Directors which she chaired in 2012. She currently serves on the board of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). She is widely recognized for her leadership in building more sustainably, most recently by ILFI as a “Living Building Hero”. She serves on the Envision Review Board supporting the development of this powerful rating system for sustainable infrastructure.

DAN KOSCIAK

Sr. Business Mgr, Renewable Energy and Climate, 3Degrees

Dan Kosciak is Senior Business Manager for 3Degrees’ commercial business in the eastern United States. Dan helps C&I organizations evaluate and implement renewable energy and greenhouse gas mitigation solutions and find the best pathways to reach their goals.

Joseph Galley CHMM, LSRP

VP, Associate Principal - GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc.

Joseph Galley is a Vice President with GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. (GZA) and an Associate Principal in the firm’s Fairfield, New Jersey office. His professional concentration is in site assessment, site investigation, regulatory compliance, and sustainable site remediation. Joe is the program leader for GZA’s internal “Envision” sustainability program. Joe began his career at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), then ran a small environmental consulting firm for 20 years before bringing his three decades of experience to GZA. Joe is a Certified Hazardous Material Manager and a Licensed Site Remediation Professional. He has worked extensively with a variety of client sectors throughout the Northeast, but his specialty is working with industrial clients to achieve regulatory compliance with the New Jersey Industrial Site Recovery Act, the ISO 14001 standard and re-developing sites subject to the New Jersey Site Remediation Reform Act.

Brent Trenga

Building Technology Director at Kingspan Insulated Panels, NA

Brent has truly run the construction industry gamut serving in various roles including Architect, Construction Manager, Developer and even project owner, allowing him to fully understand the sustainability ecosystem. As Building Technology Director for Kingspan North America, Brent is committed to reducing the environmental impact of business operations, products and services through continuous improvement and environmental transparency.

Since 2015 Brent has lead Kingspan North America’s material health and transparency program while collaborating with their Global Healthy Building Agenda team. Brent also leads Kingspan’s education program, supports strategic planning for the business development group and provides insight on current and future sustainability initiatives keeping Kingspan at the forefront of our industry.

Scott Martin

VP of Business Partnerships, 3Degrees

Scott Martin is the vice president of business partnerships, renewable energy and climate at 3Degrees, leading a team that is making it possible for businesses and their customers to take urgent action against climate change. For the last 20 years, Scott has worked with companies focused on fighting climate change. This has included growing customer demand for renewable energy products and services to helping clients achieve their GHG reduction goals to introducing global clients to innovative energy management software.

Aug ‘88 – Feb ’07 Millennium Chemicals
Principal Environmental Engineer
Director Environmental Affairs
Regional Environmental Manager
Plant Environmental Engineer
ABOUT MY VALUES AND HOW I WORK
Integrity / honesty / transparency / inclusiveness
Believe in the principles of multiple management
I am at my best when:
Everyone is fully engaged
There is openness and a high level of trust
Helping others by empowering them
Vision: I am a person who brings structure and an organized approach

CORE COMPETENCIES
Environmental expertise
Management systems
Working with other cultures
Figuring out how to get things done

With 15+ years’ experience in the maritime industry, this includes 5+ years at Sea as a marine engineer officer and the remainder at shore, globally with A.P. Moller-Maersk Group. Anshul now spearheads an energy portfolio of close to $100M that entails operational excellence initiatives/tools, hull performance management, deployment optimization and verification of new technologies to be adopted as capitalized energy projects, at the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. He also holds an honors master’s degree in Int’l Business & Operations Mgmt. accredited by the Zicklin School of Business, New York.

Navigant’s global Energy practice provides consulting and research services for energy companies, government organizations, NGOs and foundations, large corporations, product manufacturers, technology companies, and investors in areas such as climate strategies and policies, energy policy and implementation, sustainability, market structures and pricing, business and operational strategy, go-to-market and product development strategy, business models and partnerships, energy efficiency and demand-side management, emerging technologies, renewables, urban energy and distributed energy resources, transmission, and grid modernization.

Since joining Navigant in 2014, Jan has guided his team to develop thought leadership, solution offerings, and capabilities to support clients as the energy industry experiences major transformation. With over 1,000 energy consulting projects each year, Navigant is at the forefront of helping clients navigate the energy transformation’s opportunities and challenges. With over 600 management consultants, Navigant has one of the largest energy consulting teams globally focused on the energy transformation. The team has developed an industry-leading framework, The Energy Cloud, which helps clients understand climate change, new opportunities in the energy market, policy and regulatory changes, changing customer needs, new technologies, strategic options, and emerging business models.

Prior to joining Epoch in 2007, Richard spent four years as Executive Vice President of U.K.-based Schroders Investment Management where his responsibilities included consultant relations, client service and sales for domestic and international equity, fixed income and alternative products. Prior to Schroders, he worked at Credit Suisse Asset Management as Head of Emerging Markets and President of CSAM’s closed-end investment funds responsible for managing a variety of investment products for clients located globally. Richard has held positions as a portfolio manager with Gartmore and Kleinwort Benson in London. He began his career in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1982. He holds an MA Joint Honors Degree in History and Politics from the University of Edinburgh.

Christine L. Hagler

Executive Director, Climate Change and Sustainability Services, EY

• Chris has more than 25 years of experience working with companies to help set strategy and improve processes and systems. Today, Chris leverages her business acumen to create and implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that connect to strategy and purpose and drive business value.
• Chris leads EY’s United States Climate Change and Sustainability Services practice in the Southeast and is the lead for the consumer products sector.
• Chris has worked with large private companies and Fortune 500 companies on issues ranging from strategy and goal setting, risk assessment to stakeholder engagement and impact assessment.
• Chris received a BBA from the University of Toledo and holds a master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
• Chris is active in her community and participates in several sustainability groups. She is active in developing the SASB standards and helped to develop the certification. Chris is on the Board of Trustees for The Georgia Conservancy and sits on the executive committee.

Paola de Angeli

Managing Partner at The Sustainability Blueprint

Visionary, multi-lingual results-oriented professional with a focus and passion for sustainability, climate resiliency and social justice, offers experience in client relations, global energy markets, research, operations and business development. Adaptable team player poised for success in organizations embracing innovation and social consciousness as key factors in business development. Entrepreneurial leader immersed in integrating political and economic factors to drive marketing and business solutions. Collaborative communicator fosters enduring relationships with internal and external stakeholders to meet organizational objectives. Analytical strategist seamlessly aligns marketing and business practices to competitively position organization. Recognized for keen insight and high level of professional initiative. Fluent in English, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish; Conversational French.

Blaine Rothauser

Senior Natural Resource Specialist at GZA

Mr. Rothauser specializes in Threatened and Endangered (T&E) species analysis and environmental impact studies. He is professional conservation biologist with over 26 years of experience in conservation management of natural resources. He is well versed in the compliance and permitting regulations of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protections (NJDEP) Wetland, Floodplain, CAFRA, Water Quality Management, Highland, and Pineland Protection Act Rules.
He has successfully submitted over 100 rare species reports to the Land Use Element of NJDEP and has conducted environmental impact assessments and rare species surveys throughout the state. Using his skills as a wetland, floodplain, and riparian ecologist, Mr. Rothauser has designed, and coordinated conservation management plans on public and private lands. His close collaboration with varied stakeholders involved in land use issues – including community, governmental, regulatory, development, and conservancy groups – gives Mr. Rothauser invaluable insights to move projects forward.

Ron Kurtz CSP, CHMM

Director, HS&E Excellence, North America at Firmenich

Ron Kurtz works at Firmenich, a flavor & fragrance company, as the Director of Health, Safety & Environmental Excellence for North America and the QHS&E Director for the Newark facility. Ron has more than 25 years of experience in Environ‐mental, Health and Safety (EHS) working as an EHS professional in the specialty chemical, pharmaceutcal and food industries. Ron is a Nuclear Engineer, as well as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) and a Certfied Dangerous Goods Professional (CDGP). He is currently on the Board of Directors as Secretary for the national Alliance of Hazardous Material Professionals (AHMP) and a past president of the NJ Chapter of AHMP. He is also an active member of the Occupational Health & Safetycommitee and Transportation commitee for both the International Fragrance Associaton and Flavor Extract Manufacturing Association. Ron has worked for Firmenich for 16 years and is Firmenich’s liaison to the Natonal Safety Council and the Camp‐bell Institute.

Yoca Arditi-Rocha

Senior Climate Advisor, The CLEO Institute

Yoca Arditi-Rocha is an international Sustainability Professional with over 15 years of management experience.

A Biologist with a degree on Corporate Sustainability from the Institute of Global Sustainability at the University of Vermont currently finishing her Master’s degree in Liberal Arts at Harvard University in Sustainability.

She is an Al Gore trained Climate Change presenter, an active member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), a mentor for new trainees at the Climate Reality Project, and a USGBC certified LEED-Green Associate.

Yoca is the new Co-Executive Director and Senior Climate Advisor at The CLEO Institute where she works with the CLEO staff to drive climate action through community engagement and education. Before joining CLEO, she was the founder and executive director of No Planeta B, a consultancy with an advocacy core, which specializes in carbon footprint inventories, climate action planning, sustainable events, climate literacy and corporate environmental capacity training in South Florida & the Latin American region. Yoca also lead an educational engagement non-profit initiative called U CLIMATICA: a free 3-day climate change training event that empowered & mentored youth to become climate leaders.

She has participated in the past two United Nations climate negotiation talks, COP20 in Lima & COP21 in Paris, and serves as the sustainability advisor for several schools, colleges and organizations in the region. Yoca is passionate about solving the climate crisis and is considered an influencer in this field frequently invited as a keynote speaker to a variety of forums from a Latin American Doctors Conference in Argentina, to PTA meetings, to TV networks like Telemundo and others.

After living abroad for the last 10 years, Yoca has resettled back in Miami with her husband, her son, her daughter and their two dogs, and is now a pivotal part of the CLEO team! She speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Kirk Myers

Director of Sustainability, Alaska Airlines

After 16 wonderful years at REI, I have started a new role as Director of Sustainability at Alaska Airlines! I’ll be leading and ensure execution Alaska’s sustainability strategy, program, goals and reporting.

Last month, Alaska Airlines published our 2017 Sustainability report and launched a new microsite, introducing four key themes: We are all about people; We fly greener; We invest for strong communities; and We make flying matter. Alaska is making progress towards our 2020 Goals, with an integrated operation, eliminating straws and investing in our fleet and our communities.

I couldn’t be more pleased to join a company with such a strong foundation of sustainability and values. With 85 years of operation based on the West Coast, and as a company that cares deeply about long-term success for our employees, guests, and the beautiful places we live and fly, Alaska Air is proud of our leadership in environmental and social areas but know that this work is never done.

With all this progress there is still much work yet to do. Please reach out with ideas for partnerships and collaborations, and I look forward to innovating together!

Nathan Nissen

Principal Engineer, Sustainability Kohler Co.

Nathan Nissen was on the team that developed the first Kohler Co. Sustainability strategy in 2007 and has lead footprint reporting activities and coordinated footprint reduction activities since then. Prior to that, Nathan had worked in an environmental leadership role with the Kohler Co. corporate Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) department since 1989.

While working in EHS, Nathan’s career evolved through hazardous waste management and elimination, emergency response planning, environmental management systems, and industrial waste recycling. Nathan has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He is an amateur beekeeper and a licensed Professional Engineer.

Emilio Tenuta

Vice President of Corporate Sustainability - Ecolab

Emilio Tenuta is Vice President of Corporate Sustainability for Ecolab., the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that provide and protect clean water, safe food, abundant energy, and healthy environments. In his current role, Tenuta leads the corporate sustainability program in support of Ecolab’s business strategy. He is responsible for:

Broadly successful in areas relating to energy use and procurement, facility management, sustainability or team leadership – continuously seeking opportunities to make an impact. Empirical successes are ratified by professional certifications (LEED AP, CEM, CSDP) and gaps in personal expertise are well filled with relationships with subject matter experts.

Experience includes:

Operational Assessments and balanced business action planning including risk management

Lead green products strategy and communications relative to OC sustainability strategy, including annual sustainability report and green products messaging. Results driven, self motivated, energetic and hands on executive with in-depth expertise in sustainable strategies, environmental, health, safety and quality programs. Acquired leadership roles in engineering, manufacturing, general management, marketing and sustainability in various locations in the USA and overseas. Demonstrated success in creating positive differences and serving as a catalyst for change with my company, my customers and my community.

Suzanne Shelton

CEO of Shelton Group

Suzanne Shelton is president and CEO of Shelton Group, the nation’s leading marketing communications agency focused exclusively on energy and the environment. Her vision is that every home and building in America is energy responsible and sustainability is ordinary – and she leads Shelton Group in creating a market advantage for the organizations that are creating that sustainable, responsible future. Shelton’s clients include Consumers Energy, Environmental Defense Fund, Kohler, CertainTeed Insulation and ExxonMobil.

With 29 years of experience under her belt, she’s a pro at helping her clients build brand affinity, market products and start movements. She speaks regularly at conferences, guest writes for the likes of Fast Company, Green Builder and GreenBiz, and has been quoted in Forbes, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and other top media outlets.

Nanette Lockwood

Global Director, Climate Policy and Advocacy, Ingersoll Rand

Highly accomplished and results-focused with extensive record of success in government affairs, regulatory/legislative/advocacy, and public affairs. Special expertise in developing and working with internal teams to identify priorities, develop strategies and execute programs globally for complex issues. Successful in establishing and managing coalitions, strengthening government relationships, leading top-performing teams, and implementing strategies to facilitate business and operational goals. Strong background in energy, climate, environment, engineering, construction, automotive, trade, chemicals, and sustainability markets.

Arnaud Brohe

CEO, CO2logic

Arnaud is a seasoned consultant with international experience in carbon management, sustainability and ESG (GRI, CDP, GHG Protocol, PAS2060, ISO14040 and ISO14001). Arnaud carried out the first carbon audits for the EU Emission Trading System sites back in 2005, was among the first consultants to calculate the carbon footprint of complex organizations (banks, chemical factories, universities, cities, etc.) and products (beer, chocolate, textile, cooling systems, etc.). Arnaud was a co-author of several landmark reports, including for the European Commission. He published extensively on carbon accounting and carbon markets. Besides his role as CEO of CO2logic Inc, Arnaud is Professor of sustainable management at the Free University of Brussels and a guest lecturer at Imperial College London where he teaches carbon accounting in the MSc Climate Change, Management & Finance.

His book Carbon Markets, for which Lord Nicholas Stern wrote the foreword, was awarded a prize by the American Library Association. His new book on carbon accounting will be released in October by Greenleaf Publishing.

Maeve Tropf

Sr. Sustainability Analyst, Steelcase

Working on regulatory compliance, tracking and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and energy procurement and strategy:
• Track energy metrics for 153 global facilities by analyzing and reporting CO2 and Energy metrics and actively seek opportunities to reduce environmental footprint.
• Lead major sustainability projects including renewable energy procurement and management of a VPPA.
• Evaluate financial viability and environmental benefits of energy strategy to develop complete business case for leadership review and approval.
• Influence and collaborate with suppliers to achieve regulatory reporting requirements and year-over-year improvements.
• Well-versed in regulatory requirements as they relate to Dodd-Frank Act Section 1502 and energy policy in Michigan.

Joe Doolan

Head of Environmental Affairs, TD Bank

Joe Doolan leads TD’s environmental initiatives, working closely with executives and business partners as well as the bank’s 26,000 employees across the U.S. to embed environment into TD’s business operations. He engages with external stakeholders to advance the environmental health and wellness of TD’s local communities while promoting the value of natural capital.

Aaron Stash

Manager, Environmental Strategy and Sustainability at United Airlines

Decisive, action-oriented and results focused with 15 years of experience in the travel industry and the last 2 years focused on environmental sustainability and strategy, United’s Eco-Skies brand management, customer communications and project management.

Stacy has a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of Washington, and 15 years in the architecture and construction professions. Her resume includes the first LEED for Homes Platinum certified project in Washington State as well as the first project in the world to be certified under Living Building Version 2.0 standards, the Bertschi School Living Science Building in Seattle. At Skanska, Stacy leads sustainable initiatives and opportunities, and is considered a subject matter expert in LEED and Living Building Challenge certifications, with a passion for reducing materials toxicity and carbon emissions associated with construction. Stacy is committed to educating and engaging the AEC community on sustainable design and construction, and has served in various advisory and leadership roles, including: Chair of the Washington Businesses for Climate Action; Advisory Board Member for the University of Washington Carbon Leadership Forum; Construction Taskforce Chair for the Embodied Carbon Network; Advisory Group Member for AIA Materials Working Group; and Emerging Professional Regional Chair for USGBC. She is an experienced speaker, and a 2012 Living Building Challenge Hero.

Mike Dieterich

Energy and Sustainability Manager at MedImmune/Astra Zeneca

A dynamic Keynote Speaker, Change Agent, Environmental Scientist, and author focused on energy and water efficiency. Experienced construction and project manager with a track record of delivering on time and within or below budget. Hand-picked by the executive team to turn around underperforming programs; accomplished leader known and respected for leading successful change in projects and building credibility with executive teams and staff. Solutions driver who bridges the gap between business and technology with expertise in managing complex programs and multiple concurrent projects. Helping organizations assess and implement energy efficiency and sustainability programs, projects, and policies. Involved with numerous aspects of the built environment. Worked on medical campuses courthouses, office buildings, schools, recreation centers, navigational equipment, churches, housing, and community developments utilizing ISO 9000 and LEED standards and controls. Also, called upon as a sustainability expert for the US Congress, United Nations Climate Action Forum and has led conversations at Georgetown and Carnegie Mellon Universities. With efforts featured in The New York Times and various national broadcast outlets. Most recently, a TEDx talk, “A Zero Energy Water Waste Future” focused on the future of energy, water, and waste in our built environment.

Manage the Astrazenca MedImmune 9 building, 1.24 M SF, Medical Campus in Gaithersburg, MD. The objective is to reduce energy, water, and waste. The goal is to achieve Net-Zero energy and Zero Waste certifications. This involves a team integration on campus, the Carbon Energy Water Team. LEED, DOE Better Plants, ISO 50001 Standard and Superior Energy Performance MSE-50021 Standards are utilized as tools and Best Practices to scale and drive efficiency.

Olivia Sprinkel

Head of Salterbaxter North America, Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

I help companies to define and articulate their sustainability strategy – from discovery workshops, to drafting of frameworks, vision and targets, through to creation of launch communications. Strategy clients have included Coca-Cola Enterprises, Reckitt Benckiser, GSK and L’Oreal. I have recently been working on a sustainability strategy for a global fashion retailer.

I help companies to engage with their employees – on purpose, on ethics, on sustainability. Companies here include Clarks, Interface, Skanska and Coca-Cola Enterprises.

I provide consultancy on sustainability reporting, and how you can move from reporting to communications. Two reports that I have worked on with Coca-Cola Enterprises have won ‘Best Report’ awards.

I write on sustainability-related topics (as well as writing poetry and non-fiction). I edited the Salterbaxter annual Directions publication in 2012 on the subject of ‘Profits from Purpose’: http://www.salterbaxter.com/profits-from-purpose-the-big-mindshift-the-needs-to-happen/

I bring my writing, research, analytical, creative and making connections skills to the work that I do. I can’t help myself from asking questions. I love working with designers to bring ideas to life.

I believe that through purpose, storytelling and creativity, we can engage employees and citizens* in moving towards a more sustainable world. (*Citizens or creativists – I don’t believe that we should be identified as consumers in a sustainable world)

Kristina Joss

Head of Strategy & Commercial Director - Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

Kristina is a communications and marketing professional with international experience in corporate communications, sustainability and business development for businesses and NGOs.

She creates and communicates strategic initiatives for companies of all sizes that recognize the competitive advantage sustainability and corporate responsibility can bring to their business while achieving growth. This includes, creating content, thought leadership and creative communications materials for herself, her team and her clients. She has a hands-on approach to implementing programs, developing initiatives and telling stories that demonstrate responsible business and shared value. Through excellence client service and project management, Kristina ensures her accounts drive revenue and satisfy clients.

Getting companies clear on how to use corporate responsibility to deliver on business goals and communicate progress to stakeholders is key to how Kristina adda value. Her unique background in strategic communications and marketing combined with cross-sector experience with technology start-ups, multinational corporations and nonprofits provides her the skills and knowledge necessary to maximize shared value for business and society.

High energy, creative & proactive value-added business partner across a spectrum of professional disciplines prepared to handle the challenges & opportunities presented in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. The role includes some operational responsibility across DSM’s NA businesses, and leadership of DSM’s legal, communications, government affairs and other functional activities in NA. DSM is a global leader in nutrition, food ingredients, engineering plastics, resins, renewable energy, biomedical materials, and fibers. It is headquartered in Heerlen, NL, and trades on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. DSM North America includes 37 sites, 4000 employees and $3 billion sales. The US represents DSM’s largest country by sales and is home to more than 30% of DSM shareholders. The role includes some operational responsibility across DSM’s NA businesses, and leadership of DSM’s legal, communications, government affairs and other functional activities in NA.

Brendon Steele

Director of Stakeholder Engagement, Future 500

Brendon leads Future 500’s climate and energy stakeholder engagement work, engaging closely with adversaries and unlikely allies in the environmental advocacy community, oil and gas sector, and Republican circles, with an eye toward building odd-bedfellow support for a federal price on carbon.

Growing up with one foot in the progressive San Francisco Bay Area and the other in a genuinely conservative oil family, Brendon felt well-prepared for the left/right and NGO/corporate boundaries he straddles at Future 500. He is an avid world traveler, backpacking independently throughout the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. He is fluent in Spanish.

Future 500 is a non-profit specializing in stakeholder engagement since 1995. Its mission is to engage and align diverse, often-adversarial stakeholders in the corporate and activist communities, and between the political left and right, behind systemic solutions to urgent global social and environmental problems.

Greg Hamra

Leader, Citizens Climate Lobby

Greg has three decades’ experience educating and empowering leaders to make more informed policy and business decisions aligned with the triple-bottom-line.

Rosalinda Sanquiche comes to CSE from Ethical Markets Media where she was Executive Director, coordinating programs and research projects from the Green Transition Scoreboard to the Ethical Money Directory, collaborating with colleagues around the world. Rosalinda is one of CSE’s trainers and communications experts focused on Sustainability Reporting. Her sustainability career began with the American Wind Energy Association in Washington, DC, in research and communications. She has written on the construction industry for Builder/Architect and the environment for outlets including The Guardian, CSRWire and JustMeans. She has taught environmental policy and team-taught field classes combining ecology and policy in Belize. As a program manager for the North Florida Land Trust, she focused on protecting environmentally significant places through B2B, educational and private/public partnerships. Rosalinda served as treasurer for the Northeast Florida Green Chamber, advised Collins Capital Management in developing the first SRI portfolio specific to northeast Florida from where she transitioned to SRI Advisor to Synergy Asset Strategies, Inc. She is managing director and is on the advisory board of the EthicMark® Awards for advertising that uplifts the human spirit and society. She continues as a speaker on sustainability issues, focusing on socially and environmentally responsible behavior from corporate and finance perspectives. Rosalinda’s childhood years hiking through Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest informed her belief that we must engage in sustainable behaviors to preserve the magnificent world we inhabit. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Troy University. After receiving awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Hispanic Foundation, she earned a masters in Environmental and Resource Policy as a George Washington Fellow at George Washington University in D.C.

Nikos Avlonas

President, Centre for Sustainability & Excellence (CSE)

Nikos Avlonas is Founder and President of the Centre for Sustainability & Excellence (CSE), a global Sustainability Strategic Advisory and Training organization with activities in North America, Europe, MENA and Asia regions. Nikos was distinguished as one of the “Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior” in 2010 by Trust Across America, an organization dedicated to promoting trustworthy business behavior. He was recognized as a CSR Professional of the Year by PR News in 2017.
He is currently an Adjunct Professor in DePaul University (Chicago), one of the 10 largest and most innovative universities in US. Nikos is a well-known international speaker on topics related to Sustainable Development and CSR and has delivered speeches and educated professionals in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia.

Nikos specializes in Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility & Governance, Business Ethics and Performance Management strategies. During the last 15 years, he has carried out numerous projects in leading organizations, including Fortune Global 500 Companies, such as BP, Nestle, Heineken Group, Coca-Cola, Blackberry, ΑΒΜ, Mc Cain, DHL, Lafarge, Deutsche Post, Under Armor, the European Investment Bank, Government of Dubai and the Lloyds Banking Group. Additionally, he has extensive international experience in executive training & coaching having trained over 3,000 managers worldwide including executives from NASA, Walmart, Word Bank, Coca Cola.

He was founder and Co-Chair of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce Sustainability Strategy Committee. He is an advisory council member of SERF (Society of Environmentally Responsible buildings) Green Building guidelines in US and one of the founders and Vice President of the Corporate Responsibility Institute since 2007, a non-profit organization for CSR performance evaluation and benchmarking (based on the Business in the Community Index-BITC). He is also a Board Member in the Green Meetings Industry Council (GMIC) in Chicago. In the past, he was Scientific Advisor to the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), based in Brussels, in the field of Business Excellence and Corporate Social Responsibility. He was project leader for the development of a CSR Framework and relevant tools supported by the UN Global Compact and applied to thousands of companies globally. He is also a member of Gacso (Global Associations of Corporate Sustainability Officers).

He has contributed as chairman and advising member in the organization and coordination of workshops and international conferences on a variety of business topics. He is co-author of the books ‘’Practical Sustainability Strategies‘,’ published by Wiley in 2014 which become one of the bestselling books in this field, and ‘’Management Models for the Future’’ published in 2009. He has given many interviews relevant to the above issues to international media including Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, CCTV (China Central TV), Voice of America and many others.

Joe Doolan

Head of Environmental Affairs, TD Bank

Joe Doolan leads TD’s environmental initiatives, working closely with executives and business partners as well as the bank’s 26,000 employees across the U.S. to embed environment into TD’s business operations. He engages with external stakeholders to advance the environmental health and wellness of TD’s local communities while promoting the value of natural capital.

Zach Freeze

Sr. Director, Strategic Initiatives - Sustainability, Walmart

Zach Freeze is a Sr. Director of Strategic Initiatives – Sustainability for Walmart Stores Inc. He is responsible for product sustainability in Walmart’s general merchandise and consumables categories, working on supply chain initiatives such as developing more sustainable chemistry and making factories more efficient in China.

Freeze also oversees the Sustainability Index program, which is the tool used by the merchandising teams to improve the sustainability of products. He has been with Walmart for over 9 years and has held a number of roles in Walmart, environmental compliance and indirect sourcing and procurement.

Prior to joining Walmart, his experience includes hazardous waste brokering, environmental consulting, and product specification testing. Freeze earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Arkansas Tech University and a Master of Science in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas.

Angela Adams Spence

Corporate Responsibility Manager, Hertz

Angela is a mission-driven leader with experience in corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSR) that maximizing business opportunities. Strategic thinker with proven record to drive value and make immediate impact on sustainability programs. An initiative taker who generates strategic stakeholder engagement and value while leveraging a company’s commitment to the community, environment, and social responsibility. Professional with the ability to manage multiple projects while maintaining high quality and excellent customer service while supporting corporate objectives.

Designed and oversees the Company’s overreaching global corporate social responsibility strategy, diversity & inclusion, and responsible for input and design of updated employee engagement strategy.

• Responsible for the strategic direction, implementation and alignment of an integrated sustainability and corporate social responsibility programs.
• Chairs the CSR leadership team and is successful in engaging and communicating with executive champions.
• Authors biannual CSR report that provides clear direction on strategy, delivery, performance, and continuous improvement. Managed and tracked goals and metrics.
• Spearheads and directs community engagement initiatives including global employee volunteer program and employee resource groups, with keen attention to global brand positioning. Crafted communications to recruit and engage employee.
• Responsible for sustainable supplier programs in collaboration with business leaders in procurement.
• Ensures the CSR policies and programs are well publicized externally and internally.
• Developed corporate giving strategy including employee donations and volunteering, policies, and procedures to align with strategic business partners and causes. Manage the CSR budget takes full responsibility for cost management and containment.

Faith Taylor

Visionary, Transformational Executive, Wyndham Worldwide

Successful, results-oriented strategic marketing and visionary business executive. An accomplished builder of existing as well as new businesses and creator of strategic programs that leverages technology and innovation. Known for marshaling direct and matrixed resources to improve profitability and strengthen an organization’s portfolio. Expertise in change management, mitigating risks and improving existing brand performance, while delivering results through disciplined focus, using business and market innovation, and team empowerment.

Key areas of expertise:

Building new and turnaround existing businesses

Consumer and customer online and offline marketing

Corporate strategy and risk management

Innovation and change management

Corporate responsibility management and sustainability reporting

Branding and communications

Builder of strategic partnership and government relations

Leveraging technology to manage complex data and resources

Subject matter expert in Marketing, Innovation, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. Taught a course on Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility as an adjunct professor at Montclair Feliciano Business School.

In 2016, 2015 and 2014 Wyndham Worldwide has been named by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index the World and/or North American leader for the hospitality sector. In 2015 and 2014 Wyndham was named the carbon disclosure leader.

Nicholas Aster

Founder & Publisher, TriplePundit

Nick Aster is a new media architect and the founder of TriplePundit.com.

TriplePundit.com has grown to become one of the web’s leading sources of news and ideas on how business can be used to make the world a better place.

Prior to TriplePundit Nick worked for Mother Jones magazine, successfully re-launching the magazine’s online presence. He worked for TreeHugger.com, managing the technical side of the publication for 3 years and has also been an active consultant for individuals and companies entering the world of micro-publishing. He earned his stripes working for Gawker Media and Moreover Technologies in the early days of blogging.

Nick holds an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio School of Management and graduated with a BA in History from Washington University in St. Louis.

Olivia Sprinkel

Head of Salterbaxter North America, Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

I help companies to define and articulate their sustainability strategy – from discovery workshops, to drafting of frameworks, vision and targets, through to creation of launch communications. Strategy clients have included Coca-Cola Enterprises, Reckitt Benckiser, GSK and L’Oreal. I have recently been working on a sustainability strategy for a global fashion retailer.

I help companies to engage with their employees – on purpose, on ethics, on sustainability. Companies here include Clarks, Interface, Skanska and Coca-Cola Enterprises.

I provide consultancy on sustainability reporting, and how you can move from reporting to communications. Two reports that I have worked on with Coca-Cola Enterprises have won ‘Best Report’ awards.

I write on sustainability-related topics (as well as writing poetry and non-fiction). I edited the Salterbaxter annual Directions publication in 2012 on the subject of ‘Profits from Purpose’: http://www.salterbaxter.com/profits-from-purpose-the-big-mindshift-the-needs-to-happen/

I bring my writing, research, analytical, creative and making connections skills to the work that I do. I can’t help myself from asking questions. I love working with designers to bring ideas to life.

I believe that through purpose, storytelling and creativity, we can engage employees and citizens* in moving towards a more sustainable world. (*Citizens or creativists – I don’t believe that we should be identified as consumers in a sustainable world)

Pablo J. Pino

Middle Market Vice President, TD Bank, N.A.

Pablo J. Pino is the South Florida Market President at TD Bank. In this role, he is responsible for the Community Lending of all of South Florida.
Pino, who joined TD Bank in 2008, has over 30 years of experience in commercial and retail banking. Prior to joining TD Bank, Pino spent 15 years with Manufacturers Hanover, which was acquired by JP Morgan Chase, and held positions with increasing seniority at other financial institutions.
He was been instrumental in building TD Bank’s strong commercial portfolio, as well as securing top talent to continually strengthen the commercial banking team in South Florida. Pino serves on the boards of The Education Fund, United Home Care and The Center for Financial Training.

Brittany Szczepanik

Senior Project Manager, Sustainability at NSF International

Ms. Szczepanik is a Senior Project Manager at NSF International, where she is designing and managing the company’s Climate Services consulting program. She focuses on helping clients quantify their sustainability impacts, develop science-based goals and targets, and design mitigation strategies and policies to assist companies in meeting and surpassing their impact reduction goals in areas such as energy, water, and waste. She has tracked sustainability goals for institutions ranging from the Dow Chemical Company to the University of Michigan, and supported development of programs to meet these goals. Ms. Szczepanik is also the architect of NSF International’s proprietary risk scanning tool, FIRST, which scans 27 social and environmental indicators for supply chain risks using company, area, and industry-specific information.

She graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master’s degree in Energy Systems Engineering from the College of Engineering, and a Master’s degree in Sustainable Systems with a focus on energy from the School of Natural Resources and Environment. In her time at the University of Michigan, she was awarded the Bosch Sustainability Fellowship, College of Engineering Fellowship, and received a Dow Distinguished Award for Interdisciplinary Sustainability and the 2016 National Graduate Sustainability Research Award from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Tom Murray is Vice President of EDF+Business at Environmental Defense Fund, a leading international nonprofit organization that links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to solve the most serious environmental problems. Tom spearheads EDF’s work with companies and investors to catalyze environmental leadership and collaboration across organizations, industries, and supply chains. EDF+Business has been at the forefront of this change for 25 years, bringing cutting edge solutions to high-impact companies – including McDonalds, Walmart, and KKR – to transform business as usual in their products, operations, and advocacy.

Tom’s team has kicked off transformations in market sectors including quick service restaurants, shipping, retail, private equity, and energy management. Notable initiatives include slashing supply chain greenhouse gas emissions with Walmart, creating a market for hybrid trucks with FedEx, raising the bar for environmental management in private equity with KKR, and launching EDF Climate Corps an innovative fellowship program to improve energy management.

Prior to joining EDF, Tom held several positions at ICF International and Jellinek, Schwartz & Connolly, where he advised government agencies and Fortune 500 companies on environmental, safety and health compliance, pollution prevention, and legislative and regulatory strategy.

Tom is a frequent speaker at business conferences and his work has been featured in New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Bloomberg, Fortune, Fast Company, NPR’s Marketplace and Environmental Finance. He is an advisor to the American University Center for Environmental Policy.

Tom earned an M.B.A. from The George Washington University and B.A. in Political Science from Trinity College.

Rob Threlkeld

Global Manager-Renewable Energy, General Motors

With over 16 years of experience in the energy side of GM, supporting some of GM’s largest powerhouse operations, from managing GM’s Lordstown Assembly Plant powerhouse, to sourcing energy efficiency projects, energy management systems, to now leading GM’s efforts to source 100% of our operations from Renewable energy. This through a for pronged strategy of 1) Continued Strong Energy Efficiency efforts 2) Lead sourcing from clean energy sources such as wind and solar, 3) Integration of battery storage to support grid integration of renewable energy 4) Supporting Policy and regulations that allow for greater adoption of Renewable energy on a global basis.

At Smithfield, the world’s largest producer of pork products, Leeth leads company-wide regulatory initiatives and directs the company’s sustainability program, which focuses on environmental stewardship, animal welfare, worker safety, food safety, and community development. He also works as general counsel of the company’s pork production business unit and is Vice President of the Smithfield Foundation.

Leeth was previously Assistant Vice President for Environmental and Corporate Affairs and Senior Counsel. Before joining Smithfield, he was a partner with the law firm of McGuireWoods, where he represented the firm’s clients before federal and state courts and agencies in matters involving the major federal and state environmental statutes, water rights disputes, cost recovery and contaminated property litigation, rulemaking and permitting, and served in government first as a federal law clerk in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and then as an assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Virginia

In 2011, he was honored by the Ethisphere Institute, an international think tank focused on corporate social responsibility and sustainability, as one of its “Attorneys Who Matter.” He earned an undergraduate degree in International Studies from the University of Richmond, where he also graduated from the university’s law school.

Kristina Joss

Head of Strategy & Commercial Director - Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

Kristina is a communications and marketing professional with international experience in corporate communications, sustainability and business development for businesses and NGOs.

She creates and communicates strategic initiatives for companies of all sizes that recognize the competitive advantage sustainability and corporate responsibility can bring to their business while achieving growth. This includes, creating content, thought leadership and creative communications materials for herself, her team and her clients. She has a hands-on approach to implementing programs, developing initiatives and telling stories that demonstrate responsible business and shared value. Through excellence client service and project management, Kristina ensures her accounts drive revenue and satisfy clients.

Getting companies clear on how to use corporate responsibility to deliver on business goals and communicate progress to stakeholders is key to how Kristina adda value. Her unique background in strategic communications and marketing combined with cross-sector experience with technology start-ups, multinational corporations and nonprofits provides her the skills and knowledge necessary to maximize shared value for business and society.

Justin is a sustainability professional with broad experience in the private, non-profit and public sectors. Specializes in uniting diverse stakeholders around holistic environmental strategies that deliver measurable results and competitive advantages.

AMD designs and integrates technology that powers millions of intelligent devices, including personal computers, game consoles and cloud servers that define the new era of surround computing.

Mary Wroten

Associate Director, Global Sustainability, Ford Motor Company

High performance leader with 20 years of professional experience creating and executing value-based propositions that propel growth. Visionary and strategist with extreme interpersonal savvy to establish strong relationships and partnerships. Proven leader, with high integrity, skilled at motivating and inspiring teams.

Vanessa Fors is a Product Manager for North America at Helly Hansen and serves on the company’s sustainability strategy team. Vanessa has been working in the apparel industry for 18 years, taking on roles in Design and Product Management. She has experience in a variety of markets from children’s wear to women’s sportswear, to the active sports industry, traveling globally for research, sourcing, and sales. Vanessa continually seeks to find new ways to connect with and learn from the ever-changing product industry. In 2008 she founded Next Door Style Group to promote and support local art and design in Vancouver and recently coordinated the first “un-conference” for the apparel and soft goods industry in Vancouver called ApparelCamp. She regularly speaks on the topic of Vancouver’s Apparel Industry and, increasingly, on sustainability issues in the apparel sector. She is in the process of completing her MBA, including courses in corporate sustainability.

Alana Libow

Sustainable Development executive, Danone North America

Alana Libow is the Director of Sustainable Development, Business Development for Danone North America. Her scope of responsibilities includes additional Danone North America business units (including Danone Waters of America). In her capacity, she drives business growth and market leadership while advancing the company’s environmental footprint and sustainable development competitiveness from raw material sourcing to end markets details at . Alana is most often found in work boots and high heels – scouting and pitching breakthrough partnerships and entrepreneurial innovations; collaborating with topline business partners to activate DanoneWave’s purposeful brands and pitching new sales accounts — all that dually advance business and society.

Prior to joining Danone, Alana worked for Winston Eco-Strategies as an independent consultant and FIJI Water (a division of Roll International). She also brings experience working in economic development in Latin America (Fulbright Scholar 2004-2005), international/domestic policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School (2002-2004), corporate M&A consulting at Vantage Partners (2005), and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) analytics at Innovest Strategic Value Advisors (now owned by MSCI) (2006-2008). Alana completed her MBA from The Wharton School (2010) and graduated Magna Cum Laude, A.B. in Anthropology, from Washington University in St. Louis (2002). As a Danone executive, she completed MIT’s Sloan School of Business Executive Education program, “Strategies for Sustainable Business” in 2014.

Alana is a triathlete, outdoors enthusiast, mountaineer, travel writer/photographer, and wine aficionado. Alana speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and basic Aymara, the indigenous language of the Andes Mountains. Her home base is Miami, her roots are New York and Russia, her spirit Latina; she is in her element when out of her comfort zone, and is “at home” when a sense of community is felt. Passionate about all that she dives into, curious about the world’s ways and its diverse people, today her most cherished moments are time with her niece, nephew, parents, and 99-year-old grandmother.

Alana is a triathlete, outdoors enthusiast, mountaineer, travel writer/photographer, and wine aficionado. Alana speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and basic Aymara, the indigenous language of the Andes Mountains. Her home base is Miami, her roots are New York and Russia, her spirit Latina; she is in her element when out of her comfort zone, and is “at home” when a sense of community is felt. Passionate about all that she dives into, curious about the world’s ways and its diverse people, today her most cherished moments are time with her niece, nephew, parents, and 99-year-old grandmother.

Scott Tew is the founder of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand (CEES) which supports all of the company’s strategic brands — Club Car, Ingersoll Rand, Trane and Thermo King — and is responsible for forward-looking sustainability initiatives aimed at reducing resource demand of products and minimizing resource use within company facilities.

In addition, Tew serves as a featured speaker and thought leader in linking public policy, economic impacts and sustainability. His recent efforts have led to the development of world-class initiatives including the creation of EcoWiseTM product portfolio, personalized employee engagement, unique research on unmet needs in the green space, and sustainability-related solution concepts like building a $300 house. Prior to this role, he led high profile programs to advocate for energy efficiency, green buildings and global greenhouse gas emissions standards and policies.

Tew holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in environmental science and ecology from Livingston University. He plays key roles in several important groups including: the Alliance to Save Energy; the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD); the EDGE Center for Energy and the Global Environment at Duke University; and the US and India Green Building Councils. He is the author of myriad white papers related to energy efficiency and sustainable practices and contributed to the recently released book, Practicing Sustainability, by Springer Publishing.

Nicole Labutong

Technical Manager, Science Based Targets, CDP

Nicole Labutong is Technical Manager at CDP and a member of the Science-Based Targets initiative’s Technical Working Group. Nicole is passionate about enabling companies to achieve their sustainability goals by implementing innovative solutions. The focus of her work is to provide advisory services and develop resources for companies looking to set their greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in line with climate science. Nicole led the development of CDP’s first-ever science-based targets scoring method, to which over 5,800 global companies respond annually. She also regularly presents on science-based targets to a broad audience, including companies, investors, and other stakeholders. Nicole holds a M.S. in Sustainable Systems from the University of Michigan and has a background in renewable energy and life cycle assessment.

Susan Lorenz-Fisher

Director-Corporate Citizenship, AmerisourceBergen

Ms. Lorenz-Fisher is the Director of Sustainability for AmerisourceBergen with more than eight years of experience in Corporate Sustainability. At AmerisourceBergen, Susan is working to build the organization’s sustainability program and governance processes, working collaboratively across functional areas to operationalize sustainability into all aspects of the business. Before joining AmerisourceBergen, Susan spent more than two years as the Director of Sustainability and Global Communications for a multinational global protein supplier. In that role, Susan worked across the organization to integrate sustainability and had extensive engagement with key customers on sustainability initiatives. Work included managing the direction and execution of the overall strategy, developing a sustainability-oriented supplier engagement program, handling customer requests for sustainability information, working with other major business units to support CDP and GRI reporting efforts, and managing the company’s social compliance program. Susan also spent six years as a sustainability consultant assisting Fortune 500 companies from a variety of sectors and government entities, with the development of their corporate sustainability strategies. This included benchmarking, workshop facilitation, stakeholder engagement, goal setting, supplier engagement, data collection and verification, materiality analysis, and reporting and disclosure.

Daniel Hicks

Owner/Founder, Florida Sustainability Partners

Daniel is a professional journalist, network television producer, economist and faculty member.

Between 1988-2009, Daniel covered politics, business and entertainment from Los Angeles for NBC News, NBC Today, NBC NewsChannel, MSNBC and CNBC. He received Emmy nominations for breaking news in 2004 (death of Ronald Reagan) and 1997 (Heaven’s Gate tragedy). In 1998, he covered historic national elections in Berlin for MSNBC as a correspondent and fellow with the Arthur F. Burns Foundation in Washington, D.C. In 2006, while covering Hollywood and West Coast business, Daniel created CNBC’s first-and-only sustainability series sponsored by Japanese carmaker Toyota, oil giant British Petroleum and former NBC Universal parent/industrial conglomerate General Electric.

In the early 1990s, Daniel spent four years in Tokyo writing and editing for the English edition of Japan’s largest newspaper, The Yomiuri Shimbun, before returning to NBC News in Los Angeles.

In 2000, UC Berkeley hired Daniel as a senior analyst to help modernize research communications at the university. The document became a blueprint for the entire UC system and furthered the development of UC TV. While in northern California, he launched a student travel agency in 2001.

Daniel is a master’s graduate of Columbia University’s School of Journalism in New York City and UCLA, where he specialized in economics, political science and financial accounting.

In 2011, Daniel relocated his communications agency Florida Sustainability Partners to Fort Lauderdale, where he engages private clients and serves as dual faculty in business administration and communication at the University of Miami.

Appointed to the U.S. State Department subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy: Stakeholder Advisory Board to provide guidance on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Served on the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship’s Corporate Citizenship Leader Forum, and Community Involvement Roundtable.

As Director of Global Corporate Responsibility, founded and also served as Executive Director of the Sabre Foundation. Launched “Passport to Freedom,” a travel industry initiative to end human trafficking. Developed the “Better Travel, Better World” suite of socially and environmentally-responsible products, teamed to create Travelocity’s “Travel for Good” volunteerism initiative, and created “Math Can Take You Places” pre-algebra readiness curriculum that reached millions of students. Raised $19 million in employee and corporate contributions in 60 countries and achieved 51% participation among 10,000 employees employee volunteer programs.

A keynote speaker about best practices in corporate responsibility, and co-author of the book “Customers Run Your Company, They Pay the Bills,” outlining best practices in customer service for companies

Vinny Tafuro is a visionary thinker, writer, entrepreneur, communications theorist, and economist. Author of two books, Corporate Empathy and Unlocking the Labor Cage, he is a pioneering advocate for the twenty-first century economy that is disrupting society’s most rigid institutions and beliefs.

His economic theories explore the societal and economic shifts being catalyzed by corporations as a result of technology, corporate personhood, and evolving human cognition.

He is a founder of the Gasparilla Interactive Conference, a southeast regional showcase of entrepreneurship, technology and digital creativity held in Tampa Bay. He is also the founder and president of Conscious Capitalism Florida, whose purpose is to seek out and connect the role models of Florida’s conscious business community.

He presents to organizations, corporations, and colleges on a variety of engaging topics both professionally and through community organizations. He enjoys an active and blended professional, academic, and personal life, selecting challenging projects that offer opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Janet C. Hall

Founding Partner, Destination Better

Janet assists organizations in developing sustainability practices relevant to their significant economic, environmental and social impacts and relative to the global trends shaping the milestone years 2030 and 2050. Businesses, employees and communities flourish by capitalizing on these opportunities.

As a Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Strategist, Janet has a natural ability to relate to all levels of an organization. She is comfortable in complex environments; able to comprehend and communicate technical concepts. She is a frequent guest on local TV and radio shows and speaks to various audiences about the value of managing sustainability/ESG risks and opportunities.

Janet Bowman

Senior Policy Advisor, Nature Conservancy

Janet Bowman is Senior Policy Advisor for the Florida Chapter of the Nature Conservancy where she focuses on state governmental affairs. Prior to that position, she served as Legal Director of 1000 Friends of Florida, attorney for the Senate Community Affairs Committee and the Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, and Senior Attorney for the Department of Environmental Protection.

She is the Chair of the Environmental and Land Use Law Section of the Florida Bar and a member of the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the Florida Bar and a frequent speaker on conservation policy topics. She received her J.D. from the Florida State University College of Law, and her B.A. from New College of Florida.

Johanna Jobin

Director, Global EHS & Sustainability, Biogen

Johanna promotes Biogen’s culture and vision on corporate citizenship by helping to implement global sustainability programs and initiatives. These include improving product life cycle impacts and waste reductions, as well as driving employee and stakeholder engagement. She is also responsible for the corporate citizenship reporting and carbon neutrality strategy. Key activities include:

Maintaining carbon neutrality strategy

Working on largest green building project in Solothurn, Switzerland

Driving employee engagement and awareness

Developing key programs like green chemistry

Managing stakeholder engagement, including key collaborations like with MIT

Supporting all sustainability reporting and disclosure efforts

David Houle

Co-Founder, This Spaceship Earth

David Houle is a futurist, thinker and keynote speaker. He has keynoted numerous conferences across the country and internationally. In the last nine years he has delivered 750+ presentations and keynotes on 6 continents and 14 countries. He is regularly invited to speak at corporate management retreats.

Houle won a Speaker of the Year award from Vistage International, the leading organization of CEOs in the world. He is often called the “CEOs’ futurist” having spoken to or advised 3,500+ CEOs and business owners in the past eight years.

Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment. He has worked at NBC, CBS and was part of the senior executive team that launched MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1 and CNN Headline News.

Houle has won a number of awards. He won two Emmys as co-executive Producer for a nationally syndicated children’s program, “Energy Express”. He won the prestigious George Foster Peabody award and the Heartland award for Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream and was nominated for an Academy Award.

He writes the highly regarded futurist blog, Evolution Shift, with the tag line “A Future Look At Today.” He publishes the free Shift Age Newsletter, available at www.davidhoule.com/newsletter. During 2010 Houle was a featured contributor on Oprah.com. His much acclaimed curated visual look into the future, launched in 2013 is futurewow

He has been speaking about the future for 9 years and his influential first book The Shift Age was published in 2007. His second book, Shift Ed: A Call to Action for Transforming K-12 Education, written with Jeff Cobb was published in March 2011. The New Health Age: the Future of Health Care in America, co-authored with Jonathan Fleece, was published by Sourcebooks in January 2012. and became a #1 best seller on Amazon in the categories of Medicine and Future of Health Care. “Entering the Shift Age” was published by Sourcebooks in January of 2013. It is also a #1 Amazon best seller in the category of Business Planning and Forecasting. Houle published the eBook “Is Privacy Dead: The Future of Privacy in the Digital Age” in November 2013. His sixth book “Brand Shift: The Future of Brands and Marketing” with co-author Owen Shapiro was published in August 2014 and was named one of the top five marketing books published in the world in 2014.

In December 2015 he published “This Spaceship Earth” with co-author Tim Rumage. This book became the basis for Houle to found the global non-profit This Spaceship Earth, Inc. in April 2016. The goal of this non-profit is to create “crew consciousness” as we face Climate Change.

Houle is Futurist in Residence and Guest Lecturer at the Ringling College of Art + Design in Sarasota, Florida. He is Honorary President and Futurist of the Future Business School of China. He is a Founding Member of The Sarasota Institute.

Amy West

Director, Head of Socially Responsible Finance, TD Securities

Amy West is the Head of Socially Responsible Finance for TD Securities, which is part of Global Markets. In her role, Amy acts as the product champion for green and social bond issues, working closely with issuers, investors and internal partners.
Amy joined TD Securities in June 2013 as part of its debt capital markets team, covering Supranational, Sovereign and Agency (SSA) clients. Building on TD’s strong SSA platform, she was asked to spearhead TD’s fixed-income efforts in the environmental, social and governance space, being named head of socially responsible finance in 2015.
Amy brings over a decade of experience across capital markets and banking. Before joining TD, Amy worked for HSBC in debt capital markets after starting her career at RBS in their investment banking and debt capital markets teams

Samantha St. Pierre

Manager and Markets Transformation, Rainforest Alliance

Samantha leads the global forestry supply chain work for Rainforest Alliance’s markets transformation team. In this role, she engages with companies to develop and implement sustainable sourcing practices and commitments across the commodities and sectors linked to deforestation to reduce risk, drive impact in the field, improve livelihoods and protect the environment. This important work includes developing strategies, actions plans and corrective actions to engage with the supply chain and overcome risk. To this role Samantha brings over 6 years of auditing and field experience in chain of custody auditing at every level in the forest products supply chain.

Kevin Flood

CEO, The Astor Company

Kevin Flood is the founder, president, and CEO of The Astor Company, a leading environmental sustainability solutions company. After successfully building his reputation through managing private real estate ventures, as well as public works projects for the City of Chicago, Kevin set his goal on helping international corporations move toward zero waste. He has been recognized as an innovator in the industry for the last 25 years.

Kevin remains active in providing for the best interests of the people of the City of Chicago and beyond. He currently works with Maggie Daly’s After School Matters program and the Jesse White Tumblers, serves as a Board Emeritus member of the Hope Institute, and sits on the Board of Directors for Iona College.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

Prior to joining Trucost, Brian spent over 15 years in the advertising industry, specializing in healthcare, retail, and consumer packaged goods as a Media Director at Razorfish and CMI and as a Senior Account Executive at AOL. Brian holds a BS from the University of Delaware in Business Administration (Marketing) and a Master of Environmental Studies (Sustainability) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ralph Bianculli Jr.

Managing Director, Emerald Brand

Ralph Bianculli Jr., LEED Green Associate, is a Managing Director at Emerald Brand, a national provider of environmentally responsible products manufactured using alternative Tree-Free™ material technology, headquartered in New York.

Bianculli Jr. has focused his work around his passion for the environment, and has made it his mission to mainstream sustainability by educating the public about environmental solutions for both businesses and consumers. Bianculli Jr. has a unique ability to convey pertinent and valuable characteristics related to the practice and implementation of Tree-Free™ technology. His speaking engagements have enlightened industry leaders across the country and around the world.

Bianculli Jr.’s drive as an environmental leader has led Emerald Brand and Emerald Ecovations Consulting to vast international growth, as well as to become a noted and well-respected disrupter in the disposables industry.

Jaclyn McDuffey

Managing Director, Emerald Brand

Jaclyn McDuffey, LEED Green Associate, is a Managing Director at Emerald Brand, a national provider of environmentally responsible products manufactured using alternative Tree-Free™ material technology, headquartered in New York.

From a young age, McDuffey developed a great feeling of responsibility toward protecting the Earth. Since her arrival at Emerald in 2013, she has significantly grown the brand’s Tree-Free™ towel, tissue and packaging, and petroleum free plastic product lines. McDuffey has become an expert in the field of alternative materials for consumable products and packaging. Her expertise is often called on to enlighten audiences around the country, highlighting the need for change necessary to disrupt the disposables industry forever

Her dedication and commitment to sustainable materials is a reflection of her perseverance to bring to market U.S. grown and harvested Tree-Free™ materials for Farm-to-Paper product development.

Christine Needles

Senior Director, Global Communications & PR, Interface Inc.

Christine Needles leads global internal and external communications at Interface, a flooring manufacturer considered one of the world’s most sustainable companies. She directs external communications efforts across the business including Interface’s Climate Take Back mission, product innovations and design expertise, and executive visibility and thought leadership. She also oversees internal communications to foster transparency and trust through initiatives focused on Interface’s purpose, mission, values, and business performance.

Previously, Christine served as Vice President, Corporate at Edelman, a global communications firm, overseeing B2B clients in technology, built environments, and professional and financial services industries.

Prior to Edelman, she spent six years with CA Technologies, an enterprise software company. She led a team focused on global campaigns, drove M&A communications, and launched the company’s energy, carbon, and sustainability management product suite. Prior to CA, Christine held management positions at PR agencies including Porter Novelli and Citigate Cunningham.

Christine earned an M.B.A. from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and a B.S. in communication, magna cum laude, from Boston University.

High energy, creative & proactive value-added business partner across a spectrum of professional disciplines prepared to handle the challenges & opportunities presented in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. The role includes some operational responsibility across DSM’s NA businesses, and leadership of DSM’s legal, communications, government affairs and other functional activities in NA. DSM is a global leader in nutrition, food ingredients, engineering plastics, resins, renewable energy, biomedical materials, and fibers. It is headquartered in Heerlen, NL, and trades on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. DSM North America includes 37 sites, 4000 employees and $3 billion sales. The US represents DSM’s largest country by sales and is home to more than 30% of DSM shareholders. The role includes some operational responsibility across DSM’s NA businesses, and leadership of DSM’s legal, communications, government affairs and other functional activities in NA.

Brendon Steele

Director of Stakeholder Engagement, Future 500

Brendon leads Future 500’s climate and energy stakeholder engagement work, engaging closely with adversaries and unlikely allies in the environmental advocacy community, oil and gas sector, and Republican circles, with an eye toward building odd-bedfellow support for a federal price on carbon.

Growing up with one foot in the progressive San Francisco Bay Area and the other in a genuinely conservative oil family, Brendon felt well-prepared for the left/right and NGO/corporate boundaries he straddles at Future 500. He is an avid world traveler, backpacking independently throughout the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. He is fluent in Spanish.

Future 500 is a non-profit specializing in stakeholder engagement since 1995. Its mission is to engage and align diverse, often-adversarial stakeholders in the corporate and activist communities, and between the political left and right, behind systemic solutions to urgent global social and environmental problems.

Lisa Manley

Senior Director, Sustainability Engagement & Partnerships, Mars, Inc.

Senior corporate communications professional with experience across a broad range of global industries, including consumer products, financial services, healthcare and professional services. Strong track record in providing strategic communications counsel to executives; serving as a corporate spokesperson and media strategist; managing employee programs to recruit and retain top talent, shape culture and drive performance; leading business transformation efforts; developing and implementing issues/crisis management programs; and developing corporate reputation management and sustainability strategies to support business goals.

Linda Brown is co-founder and Senior Vice President of SCS Global Services, an innovative global leader in third-party environmental, sustainability, and food quality certification, auditing, testing, and standards development. For more than three decades, Ms. Brown has supported the development and implementation of the company’s strategic initiatives and certification programs in areas such as sustainable agriculture, resource management (forests, fisheries, minerals), climate accounting, green building product assessment, and consumer product assessment.

Linda has held many positions in the company, including Director of SCS’ Environmental Claims Certification Program, Director of Sustainable Agriculture, and Director of Corporate Communications. She has also served as chief technical editor on major company reports, especially in the field of life cycle assessment.

Over the years, Linda has participated in numerous proprietary and public multi-stakeholder environmental and sustainability standards development activities, including engagement with several committees involved in the development of American National Standards, participation in the international ISO 14000 standards setting process focused on Environmental Labeling, Life-Cycle Assessment, Environmental Aspects in Product Standards, and Climate Assessment, and US Environmental Protection Agency Guidelines for Product Environmental Performance Standards and Ecolabels for Voluntary Use in Federal Procurement Ms. Brown is the author of numerous articles on a wide range of topics, and has presented before audiences around the world.